A study published in the June issue of the International Journal of Oncology found that Poria Triterpine Extract (PTE)—a mixture of triterpines from Poria cocos, a medicinal mushroom used in traditional Asian medicine—suppresses the proliferation of human pancreatic cancer cell lines.

Pancreatic cancer has some of the poorest survival rates among all types of cancer. It is rarely diagnosed early enough for successful intervention, and complete remissions are extremely rare.

The research was led by Dan Sliva, PhD, and performed at the Cancer Research Laboratory at Methodist Research Institute, Indiana University Health. Isaac Eliaz, MD, LAc, the director of Amitabha Medical Clinic & Healing Center, coauthored the study as part of his ongoing research into adjunctive anticancer therapies.

“This is truly a groundbreaking study that could make a significant impact on the treatment of pancreatic cancer, the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States,” said Dr. Eliaz. “This is a particularly devastating disease, with a survival rate of about five percent over five years. With this study, we have made a great deal of progress toward potentially using PTE to treat pancreatic cancer.”

According to the study, the anti-proliferative effects of PTE on a primary human pancreatic tumor cell line are mediated by the cell cycle arrest at the resting phase where the cell has left the cell growth cycle and has stopped dividing. DNA microarray analysis also demonstrated that PTE significantly downregulates the expression of a tissue signaling protein that acts as an “on switch” for cancer cell propagation, as well as an enzyme involved in physiological functions and disease progression such as cancer metastasis.

Additionally, the study found that PTE suppresses the invasiveness of pancreatic cancer cells, which was associated with the reduction of MMP-7. In analysis, the gene silencing of MMP-7, which also suppressed the invasiveness of the pancreatic cancer cells, further confirmed this conclusion.

As a result of the study, researchers found that PTE outperformed pachymic acid, a single derivative of Poria cocos. Further studies are now in progress to investigate the exact mechanism of the inhibition of MMP-7 expression and further evaluation of the anticancer and anti-metastatic activity of PTE.